Charles Bethel Jr.

Women's Basketball 11/17/2020 6:00:00 PM J.T. Wilcox, Sports Information Director

FMU Women Set To Travel To Face Ave Maria Wednesday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (1-2, 1-1) at Ave Maria University Gyrenes (1-3, 0-1)
When: Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Where: Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, Fla. | Tom Golisano Field House
Tip-off: 5:30 p.m.
Last Meeting: Jan. 30, 2020, Win 66-64
Live Stream Video: Link
Live Stats: Link

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University's women's basketball team will be looking to avoid losing consecutive games and continue its dominance over Ave Maria University when it hits the road to face the Gyrenes Wednesday night at the Tom Golisano Field House.

Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. and will be first game in what will be a women-men doubleheader. The men's game will start 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's game. Per Ave Maria's COVID-19 fan policy, no visiting fans will be allowed to attend the game, but the school will be streaming the game live online for free.

The Lady Lions (1-2, 1-1 The Sun Conference) have won seven of the past nine matchups between the programs and will be looking to add another positive notch to that record in what will be the teams' 10th meeting in the past three years.

Florida Memorial will be going into Wednesday's game looking to get the bitter taste of defeat out of its mouth following its 83-78 loss to rival St. Thomas University – a game that saw the Lions let a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead slip away en route to a loss in their home opener.

Still, FMU head coach Gregory Stanback did see a sufficient number of positive things from his team in that game that should buoy his confidence heading into Wednesday's game.

Junior guard Keaynna Tolbert scored at least 19 points for third consecutive game this past weekend. She's shown that she can breakdown defenders and attack the basket, either making a tough layup in traffic or drawing a foul to get to the free throw line.

Also, Jamari Tillman elevated her team-best three-point shooting percentage to 40 percent (minimum of 10 attempts) as she knocked down 4 three-pointers against the Bobcats.

The Lions also only committed 14 turnovers this past Saturday, their second-lowest turnover total this season.

In Ave Maria, FMU will be facing a team that has had a rough start out of the gate this season. The Gyrenes (1-3, 0-1) won their first game of the year – against the perennially-paltry Johnson University – but followed that up with three straight losses (by a combined 40 points).

FMU will need to pay attention and do its due diligence to run Ave Maria senior Taylor Allen off the three-point line. The 5-foot-8 shooting guard was the No. 2 three-pointer in the Sun Conference in 2019-20 and went 4-of-5 from deep against the Lady Lions in a game this past season.

While it doesn't appear that Florida Memorial will be at an inherent height-disadvantage against Ave Maria, it will also need to make sure it does all the little things – boxing out and giving extra effort – to generate rebounds as the Gyrenes have won the rebound battle in the past three games.

Follow Florida Memorial University Athletics on social media
Instagram: @GoFMULions/@FMUWBB | Twitter: @GoFMULions | YouTube: Official FMU Lions

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